Contribution of cocoa shell waste as a source of energy at PT. Mars Indonesia

Abstract

One of the natural resources that have almost no impact on environmental pollution is new and renewable energy that comes from sustainable natural processes, such as wind power, solar power, hydropower, biomass and geothermal. Several types of biomass waste have considerable potentials, such as wood waste, rice husks, straw, bagasse, palm shells, and municipal waste. Another potential that has not been exploited properly is cocoa shell waste. Indonesia is one of the world’s largest cocoa producers, the export volume in 2020 reached 377,849 thousand tons or worth USD 1.244 billion (Central Bureau of Statistics 2020). Production in 2020 is 720,660 thousand tons. People’s plantations are 1.49 million hectares (98.92%), private plantations are 11.56 thousand hectares (0.77%), and plantations are 4.81 thousand hectares (0.32%), with 60% located in Sulawesi. The conversion of biomass into energy can be carried out by several processes, including Direct combustion, Thermochemical conversion, and Biochemical conversion. This research was conducted to examine the use of cocoa shells as an energy source that is used directly after separation from the beans and channeled into a boiler for combustion. The energy produced from the boiler is used as a source of energy at PT. Indonesian Mars. The results showed that the level of efficiency and effectiveness, as well as the economic value was still good enough to be utilized because the cocoa shell-burning process was carried out immediately after the separation from the beans. The energy from the cocoa shell combustion process is 276.45 kg/hour of 4,146,355.17 kJ/hour or 1,151,765 kw/hour, while the ash from the combustion of 6,93038%/kg is still below the standard of SNI 01-6235-2000 i.e. < 8%, emissions from boiler combustion are Particulate Isokinetic 293,063 Mg/m3, Sulfur dioxide (SO2) 535 Mg/m3, Nitrogen Oxide (NO2) 505 Mg/m3, Hydrogen Chloride (HCl) 3,0295, Chlorine Gas (CL2) 0.0220 Mg/m3, Ammonia (NH3) 0.1660 Mg/m3, Florida Hydrogen (HF) 0.0195 Mg/m3, Opacity 12%, Reduced Sulfur (H,S) <0.03, Carbon Monoxide (CO) 9622 Mg/m3, Gas flow rate 2.64 m3/s.